Sorry, we’re not sorry! Prime Minister Justin Trudeau doubled down in the wake of the ethics commissioner’s report released last Wednesday, which found him guilty of violating the Conflict of Interest Act.

Trudeau refused to apologize or appear contrite when speaking with the media. He stuck to his key message that his only motivation was to protect Canadian jobs. He is basically saying that anything he did was OK as the result justifies the means. Many political pundits and strategists said he should apologize.

My personal view is the root of the problem lies with the Member of Parliament for Vancouver Granville, Jody Wilson-Raybould. The former minister of justice did not do her job, failing to address all of the issues at the heart of the SNC-Lavalin deferred prosecution agreement (DPA) matter once the PMO had brought it up to her. She abdicated or fettered her discretion.

That said, from a purely political strategy point of view Trudeau should definitely not apologize. Forget the moral, legal or ethical reasons — from a purely political lens he cannot apologize.

Cass Sunstein, a professor at Harvard Law School, recently wrote an opinion piece in The New York Times opinion piece entitled “In politics, apologies are for losers.” He argues that a political apology is a risky strategy. His case in point is Al Franken. Then a member of the U.S. senate, Franken’s public apology for inappropriate behaviour with a woman fanned the flames and forced him to resign.

Sunstein’s political research concludes that apologies do not increase support for people who have said or done offensive things.

He’s right. Think about some of the most famous political apologies. Did they work or change your opinion of the politician? Probably not.

Ronald Reagan said he felt “regret” over the Iran-Contra deal. Bill Clinton said “I misled people, even, my own wife” in 1998 over the Monica Lewinsky sex scandal.

Former U.K. prime minister Tony Blair said he can now “express more sorrow, regret, and apology than you can ever know or believe” regarding his decision to invade Iraq alongside the United States in 2003.

None of these apologies change what happened or how the public feels about the politicians who apologized.

The irony of Trudeau’s “sorry, we’re not sorry” about SNC-Lavalin is that he has probably apologized for more things than most people out there.

In March 2018, the BBC published a story entitled “Does Justin Trudeau apologize too much?” It outlined the four formal apologies Trudeau has made as prime minister. The British broadcaster called Trudeau “Canada’s most apologetic leader.”

Mr. Sorry is not sorry now and for good reason. For a political apology to work — or any apology, really — you need several things.

First, it needs to be genuine. Second, the one apologizing needs to take some responsibility or blame for the “offence.” Last, it needs to be done in a way that the receiver will provide some form of absolution or forgiveness.

None of those things are going to happen. Therefore “jobs, jobs, jobs” — what Trudeau is now saying — is the correct political strategy.

The release of the ethics commissioner report was like Christmas Day for Conservatives. It was Halloween for Liberals. It seemed like another PA Day for the NDP.

What it wasn’t was election day. And that is the only day that matters to resolve this issue.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is not going to apologize for what he has done and nor should he. Even if he wanted to do it, Canada’s most apologetic politician would not score any political points with an apology.

Sorry, but the place to settle this issue is at the ballot box and we will all have a part in that on Oct. 21.

Jim Warren is a Liberal strategist who worked for former Ontario premier Dalton McGuinty and Toronto mayor Mel Lastman.

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